Shadowing Practice: John Carmack - The Elegant Design - Learn English Speaking with Video

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25 sentences

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There is design that could be called art involved in the technical side of things on there.

There's work that I've done that at the time I can think this is the right way to do it.

It powerfully feels correct.

And I suppose that's similar to an artistic sense in some ways where it's not

so much that I've measured everything and I've quantitatively shown that this is correct, but many times there is just the sense,

the voice of experience and all that's gone before, where something comes up and sometimes it's even a fairly abrupt thing where working something

and then all of a sudden this is the right way to do it

and it becomes clear and that's you know that's very rewarding it's not

that I just look at things

and say here are all the tasks let's start slogging through them one after another

I do want to to come up with

because the elegant design is the thing

that allows you to do something two years ahead of

when it should have been possible and that's

so much of what I've done in technology where you don't need cleverness to do 3D games today.

You know the hardware is extraordinarily powerful

and all you need to do is just not do a horrible job

and it still comes out okay

but in the early days it was what nobody thought was possible

and sure you could have just waited

and eventually the hardware would have been there

and everybody could have done it but the fact

that I helped make something possible two or three years earlier than it would have been otherwise, that's still a good thing.

If something's worth doing, it's worth doing earlier.

It's all that opportunity value.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This speaking lesson is built on the video “John Carmack - The Elegant Design”. This video has 25 sentences and 298 words to shadow. The speech runs for 1:31. The speaker talks fast, about 196 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 90% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is easy to follow.

Key vocabulary in this video

12 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
hardware noun	/ˈhɑɹdˌwɛɹ/	Fixtures, equipment, fasteners, tools, and devices used for general-purpose construction and repair of a structure or object. Also such equipment as sold as…
horrible adjective	/ˈhɔɹ.ɪ.bəl/	Causing horror; terrible; shocking.
sudden adjective	/ˈsʌd.ən/	Occurring quickly with little or no warning or expectation; instantly.
reward noun	/ɹɪˈwɔɹd/	Something of value given in return for an act.
artistic adjective	/ɑɹˈtɪs.tɪk/	Having or revealing creative skill.
elegant adjective	/ˈɛləɡənt/	Characterised by or exhibiting elegance; having grace, refinement, or tasteful simplicity.
abrupt adjective	/əˈbɹʌpt/	Without notice to prepare the mind for the event; sudden; hasty; unceremonious.
cleverness noun	/ˈklɛvɚnəs/	The property of being clever.
extraordinarily adverb		In an extraordinary manner.
powerfully adverb	/ˈpaʊɚf(ə)li/	In a powerful manner.
quantitatively adverb		In a quantitative manner.
slog verb	/slɑɡ/	To walk slowly or doggedly, encountering resistance.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
come out verb	/ˌkʌm ˈaʊt/	To be discovered; to be revealed.
come up verb		To emerge or become known, especially unexpectedly.
come up with verb		To manage to produce, deliver, or present (something) by inventing, creating, thinking of, or obtaining it.

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 5 contractions and reduced forms, such as I've, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

How to practise with this video

Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like hardware, horrible, sudden.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

Shadowing Practice: John Carmack - The Elegant Design - Learn English Speaking with Video

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